SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED: Headteacher - St Mary's Catholic Primary

SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED: Headteacher - St Mary's Catholic Primary - Wiltshire

£Competitive to attract the right applicant + Relocation support - Catholic - Head/Principal
Ref: 117 Date Posted: Wednesday 04 Feb 2026

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PAST VACANCY EMMAUS HAVE APPOINTED TO.

Salary: £Competitive to attract the right applicant + Relocation support
Location: Swindon
Contract Type: Full Time
Contract Term: Permanent

St Mary’s is a 1.5 FE school which stands out as a beacon of authentic Catholic faith and witness. Like its close neighbour, St. Catherine’s, St Mary’s is blessed with a significant number of staff with deep and long connections with the school. The school environment is genuinely warm, and friendly. It is full of highly stimulating displays of faith and culture that are visual hallmarks of the shared spirituality and the evidence of deep engagement from the pupils with the development and preservation of its Catholic character. 

Governors and staff have worked tirelessly to maintain high levels of care and purpose, having successfully led the school community to overcome the twin challenges of COVID and the sudden death of their Executive Headteacher.  Now, with a new leadership structure in place, Governors are looking forward to a bright future, with the appointment of a substantive Headteacher to lead St Mary’s as it enters a new chapter in the rich life of the school.

This is truly a remarkable school with extraordinary potential to build upon and further advance its well-earned reputation as an exemplar of best practice in Catholic education. 

If, as a first-time or existing Head, you believe you can offer the leadership qualities which inspires and motivates others towards excellence and which will ensure the very best education for our children, then we would love to hear from you.

A requirement of the post is that applicants must be practising Catholics.

For further details or to have an informal discussion, please contact Liam Dowds, our Emmaus Leadership Advising Consultant who is assisting us with this assignment, in complete confidence, on 01737 652 043 or ldowds@emmausleadership.me.

We would encourage you to come and visit us and see us at work.

Our school is an equal opportunities employer and committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. DBS check required.

"I’m delighted with the way it went and the successful outcome (third SLT placement now!) helps confirm to Governors that your approach is right for these levels of appointment. It’s difficult to quantify the costs of recruiting and failing to get the right candidate ourselves - we’d only find out the true cost and also lost opportunities if we tried and failed. Altogether better to invest in getting it right first time, so thank you for all your hard work on this. The other side is the perception we leave with all candidates and I think we’ve worked together to do an excellent job (using your Assessment support). The communication, logistics and the care given I think is really important and Emmaus are a big part of that - you work as an extension of the school. I am fairly sure that all of the candidates will go away having had a great experience and that will help our reputation spread in a positive way."

Dave Cobb - School Business & Development Manager, Saint Cecilia's CE School, London

"We came across Emmaus by accident after our own attempts to recruit a Headteacher failed. We would not hesitate to engage them again to find a suitable candidate for a leadership position."

Michael Tennant - Chairman of the Board, St Edward's School

"…we also considered other external recruiters, but Emmaus were clear favourites in terms of their recruitment expertise and in-depth knowledge and appreciation of the catholic school’s sector."

Peter Giorgio, Director of Education, Nottingham Diocese

"I have no hesitation in commending Emmaus to any school that is seeking to appoint a Christian Headteacher. In particular, Emmaus’ ability to promote the school, assess the ethos of the school and communicate this within the networks of those who might be considered as possible candidates was invaluable."

Clive Purser, Chair of Governors, St Andrew's CE High School for Boys, Worthing

"We had been cold called by a few other companies but chose Emmaus as it specialised in Church schools. We were impressed by Liam and his team coming to the school and burrowing in to what the school wanted and needed. He asked searching questions and we were satisfied this was the way forward. I had not been a fan of head hunters before, but I have to say this process and its result was a hugely better experience than going out on our own and was totally professional throughout."

Bridget Prentice, Chair of Governors - Trinity School, Lewisham

"We tried going it alone to find a CEO for our MAT but had only 2 applicants who didn't meet our requirements. We approached Emmaus and from the start their professionalism was reassuring."

Barry Leyland, Chair - Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic Multi Academy Trust

"I approached Emmaus following our unsuccessful attempts to recruit Deputy DDEs for both Dioceses. They went on to source a far greater number of candidates of high calibre. I highly recommend Emmaus!"

Canon Carolyn Lewis, Director of Education - Diocese of Leicester and Diocese of Derby

"From prospective applicant through to newly appointed CEO at Tenax Schools Trust, I cannot speak highly enough of the services provide by Emmaus.  I recommend Emmaus Leadership without reservation."

Mark Cole, Chief Executive Officer - Tenax Schools Trust

"Having previously struggled to recruit two Headteachers - for both a Primary and a Secondary school - Emmaus came to the rescue. Their expert advice and deep understanding of recruiting Headship positions in Catholic schools is invaluable, and I have no hesitation in recommending their knowhow and their values."

Fr David Gibbons, Chair of Governors & Parish Priest, Archdiocese of Southwark

"Could we afford it? My belief, as Chair was that we couldn’t afford not to. We needed strong school leaders to be drawn to apply. Our success was down to using Emmaus and definitely money well spent."

Carry Lynott - Chair of Governors, Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, Bradford

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